John Peyton was a native of Proctor, Minnesota, and was well-known throughout the western Great Lakes region as a banker, artist, and award-winning author. Peyton's memoirs, which span most of the twentieth century, begin with his early life in northern Minnesota when Duluth was still a frontier town. He recalled his adventures with the northern Ojibway Indians and time spent hunting and fishing on the rivers of the Northwoods. He described his years at prep school in New Hampshire, his years at Yale, and banking during the Depression in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Many other experiences of his life in Minnesota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Arizona--always told in a gentle, warm and perceptive manner--also find their way into these memoirs. Peyton's own paintings and illustrations further enrich the description of his life.